The Abandons Episode 6 Recap: Why Does Fiona Cancel The Agreement?

Introducing a number of independent issues in each episode, “The Abandons” suffers from too many climaxes, none of them strong enough to make a singular impact as it advances towards the season finale. While it focused on several cavalries, outlaw groups, and pasts of characters, adding a newer dimension to their story in each episode, the rivalry between Fiona and Constance became murky. Perhaps, to remedy this, in the penultimate episode of the season, titled “Piety and Rage,” drastic action starts taking place. In the previous episode, Fiona and Constance concluded on an evasive territory regarding the lands. While Elias confirms to Trisha that the land has been sold, and Fiona confirms to Constance that the families have agreed to the proposal, the tables turn in this episode, creating a bloodied chaos. While Constance has been generous and considerate so far to achieve the lands, it seems like she has taken quite a hard-handed approach to dealing with the Hollow with no turning back. Let’s take a look at the episode as the stakes rise and life in the Hollow becomes more dangerous than ever.

Spoilers Ahead

Why Does Fiona Cancel the Agreement?

After Fiona declines knowing about Willem’s whereabouts, she walks out of Constance’s office and meets Miles, who is waiting outside. When Miles asks her about the agreement, Fiona tells him that Constance has learned the truth that the body was not Willem’s, and she has declined the agreement. On one hand, Fiona is portrayed as a dynamic leader, but on the other, she is shown as someone who goes back on her words triggered by a sense of guilt. Perhaps Fiona anticipates that what Constance has been proclaiming as her intent, that is, to elevate the town, is not the truth after all. It is Constance’s greed for money and power that is leading her so much so that she does not hesitate to choose dirt over her own son’s blood. Despite cancelling the agreement, Fiona does not inform her children or the families yet. Later, she gathers everyone and tells them the truth about the situation, setting Elias on a spree of rage. Elias, who told Trisha about the affirmation of the deal, is humiliated by her after Trisha learns from Jack that the deal is no longer standing. The families are also upset by Fiona’s action since they feel like it is a betrayal that Fiona declined Constance despite a unanimous vote of yes. While arguments are in the air, Fiona insults Elias, saying that he has started thinking that he is better than the lot just because he sleeps with a rich girl (she uses a derogatory word), and Elias slaps her. The families intervene to stop this altercation between the two, but surprisingly the series has Fiona apologizing to Elias when he tells her that she did not deserve the treatment. I smell a whiff of strong misogyny here—the authorial intent should not side with an assaulted woman counter-apologizing to someone that assaulted her no matter the depth of the situation. Not only this, but the series leans towards cheap misogynistic trickery elsewhere too when it comes to Constance.

Why Does Constance Plan an Attack on the Red Bird?

After Fiona leaves, Constance lets out a shriek of frustration when the negotiations do not work out as she had envisioned. Mr. Roache rushes to check on her, and Constance, who has so far proved to be level-headed and strategic, starts seducing him. It would have been fine if this was her choice for a night, but the series makes it look like she trades the night for the upcoming favors that she would be needing from Mr. Roache. The next morning, Constance learns that the Red Bird has agreed to sit down with the cavalries and discuss peace. She is enraged at this since men and a child died in her stead because she stole the guns from the Joaquins to provide the Red Bird with the war stock that he needed. Constance starts planning an elaborate way to get back at the tribe with Mr. Roache’s help. However, when Jack, who is Constance, and her husband, Emmett’s old employee, learns about this, he questions Constance on her morality and values. Jack is fired from the job on the spot. As he walks out, he meets Garret, who wants to know what exactly is going on in his mother’s head. Jack tells him that Constance is planning a treason against her own people. Constance’s plan is to make a bargain with the Cayuse tribe and hire them to attack Jasper’s Hollow in exchange for the firearms they had asked for. Nobody will question this violence, and she will be able to weed out the resistance that Fiona is putting up. Jack Cree, who is an indigenous man himself, wants to help Garret do the right thing as his final service to Garret’s father, Emmet, who considered him a brother. Constance wants to fake an attack on the Red Bird so that he does not sign the treaty, and turns against peace. It will be easier for her to sell her weapons and provoke the Red Bird into attacking the Hollow. 

Does Garret Betray His Mother?

Jack Cree takes Garret to the spot where the Red Bird is supposed to be meeting with the cavalries. Mr. Roache has sent two men to kill the Red Bird, but Jack and Garret arrive just in time to intervene. Although they manage to save the Red Bird, a Cayuse tribesman gets killed stirring up the violence that Constance was seeking for. Jack kills one of the two men that Mr. Roache has sent, but the other man, the milky-eyed Dupar, is able to escape. The cavalry puts a bounty on his head as he flees. While this may seem like Garret’s attempt to respect his father’s legacy to protect the town—townsmen and tribesmen irrespective—what Garret wants is recognition and leadership. Jack Cree takes Garret’s leave, and when Mr. Roache reports to Constance about the happenings, she asks Roache to leave Jack alone. However, Constance still has her son to negotiate with. 

After Jack warns Garret about his mother’s plans, Garret has the guy who he recruited to background search Miles visit him. The guy brings him information about Miles’ past of being a special forces marshal who turned into a fugitive after unleashing violence. A search is still on for A. Winston, Miles’ real name. Miles spent twenty years in hiding, but his wanted status has not changed. Garret decides to use this information to manipulate Miles into selling his land at the Hollow. As he is telling about his plans to her mother in Jack Cree’s old cabin, Dupar turns up out of nowhere asking for money and resources to flee the town. He is armed; Constance agrees to provide him with what he needs, but as she walks outside, Mr. Roache comes in and shoots Dupar.Jenny, the maid, was present in this scenario. After everything  is over, she asks Garret whether what Dupar was talking about Constance is all true. Dupar alleged Constance of murder and greed before he was shot. Garret has to prove that he has grown out of his idealistic self. He calmly walks out of the cabin and tells Roache to do away with Jenny, since keeping her alive would risk spreading rumours. Constance is swooned over by this evolution of her blue-eyed boy; she promises Garret that no decision will be taken without Garret’s knowledge from now on. Garret, at the cost of his morality, wins what he wants—he gets to call the shots, literally.

As “Piety and Rage” sets the premise for the season finale, “The Abandons” plunges into the raw brutality of the West. The episode marks a decisive breaking point for both Fiona and Constance, who now stand on opposite sides of a war that has already begun. Fiona’s protective instincts to save her family crack the unity of the Hollow, while Constance slips fully into a dark legacy of power and ruthlessness. Perhaps the most important turn in the show is Garret’s unexpected transformation into a colder, morally compromised heir, which highlights the show’s central theme that in this frontier, survival comes at the cost of moral sacrifice.

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